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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mood Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1525091
Investigation of serum cystatin C levels and its diagnostic value with inflammatory ratios in patients with bipolar disorder
Provisionally accepted- 1 School of Mental Health, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China
- 2 Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 3 Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4 Jining Psychiatric Hospital, Jining, China
Background: It is thought that inflammation significantly contributes to the development of bipolar disorder (BD), and recent findings indicate a connection between cystatin C and immune-related inflammation. In this study, we investigated serum cystatin C levels in patients with BD and explored the relationship between cystatin C and inflammatory markers.The study involved 3,647 individuals diagnosed with BD, comprising 2,431 with BDmanic (BD-M) and 1,216 with BD-depression (BD-D), alongside 3,500 healthy controls. The analysis covered cystatin C levels and inflammatory biomarkers obtained from complete blood counts across the various groups. The Spearman correlation test was used to examine the relationship between cystatin C and inflammatory markers. Logistic regression and ROC curve analyses assessed the predictive value of these markers for disease occurrence.Results: Serum cystatin C levels were significantly elevated in BD patients, particularly those in manic episodes, compared to the healthy control group, with distinct correlation patterns with inflammatory biomarkers observed among the groups. Serum Cystatin C levels independently and positively indicated disease occurrence, showing improved diagnostic effectiveness when combined with inflammatory ratios.Our research indicates that cystatin C could be involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms of BD by affecting pro-inflammatory processes. Additionally, it should be emphasized that cystatin C showed considerable predictive capacity in diagnosing BD, especially when used alongside various inflammatory markers. Limitations: The cross-sectional study is limited to demonstrating associations rather than establishing causality. A thorough examination of sociodemographic factors and the severity of the disease could not be conducted.
Keywords: Bipolar Disorder, Cystatin C, Inflammation, biomarker, Serum
Received: 12 Nov 2024; Accepted: 17 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Ma, Gao, Luo, Wei, Chen and Feng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jing-Xu Chen, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, 100096, Beijing Municipality, China
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